We all want to get our very own domain names for free, so who is stopping us from doing so?
Let’s say you have broadband service at home, and you also have a static IP (which is not required for a domain name, but it does make things easier). Let’s also say that you want to use the domain name coolstuff.net, with subdomains (and hostnames) jacks.coolstuff.net and marys.coolstuff.net.
In order for other computers to resolve jacks.coolstuff.net to its IP address, the root DNS server defers to the .net specialist DNS server. The .net specialized DNS server then needs to know which other DNS server is responsible for the domain name coolstuff.net.
Ah, ha, this is why you need to pay. Not everyone can just go ahead and add a new entry to the database maintained by the .net specialized DNS server. Only certain organizations can take the money (domain name registration) and update the DNS databases of important DNS servers!
Whichever company takes your domain name registration fees is also responsible to set up a DNS entry for your domain. This company does not need to be your ISP (internet service provider) or your hosting company (if you have a standalone web host). This registration requires that you specify which DNS server(s) are responsible to resolve the registered domain name.
Normally, if you do not have subdomains, then the paid DNS entry can refer to any DNS servers that you choose to use to resolve your domain names. There are plenty of free DNS services. Let’s say you choose to use dnsexit.com to act as your domain name server. Then, you put in the name servers of dnsexit.com when you register your domain name.
In this particular case, it gets a little more complicated. Because you plan to have many subdomains under coolstuff.net, you need to find a DNS service that allows subdomains. You can pay to have this set up, or you can set up your own DNS server(s). Let’s say the IP address of your DNS server is 66.205.123.20. Then the domain name registrar will put an entry in that says “inquire 66.205.123.20 for everything that ends with coolstuff.net ”.
Setting up your own DNS server has advantages and disadvantages. It is next to free, assuming your do have a free machine, and it is very flexible. However, if your DNS server stops functioning, then no one can find the hosts in the domain, even if all those hosts are well and alive.